Many foods are prepared in an oven. Most often, such foods are placed on/in a metal baking container or a glass-baking container. Since metal and glass baking containers become extremely hot during the baking process, it is dangerous to use the metal or glass-baking container as a serving container immediately after removal from an oven. This is due to the threat of a burn injury if flesh comes in contact with the extremely hot metal or glass-baking container. Transferring food from a hot baking container to a temperate serving container can be cumbersome, particularly in a restaurant environment where food preparation and handling activities are mitigated to maximize delivery volume. In addition, when food has to be transferred from one container to another container, damage to the food product can occur which can result in wasted food. Furthermore, the temperature of the food can be adversely affected when transferred to a hot container to a much cooler container. Also, metal and glass containers are relatively heavy and expensive, burdensome to store, and costly to keep clean. Another difficulty with metal containers and some types of glass containers is that they cannot be used in microwave oven cooking.
There is a growing market demand for disposable paperboard containers for use in baking applications with food products. However, many foods are difficult to successfully package because they have a tendency to stick to the paperboard when baked. This is especially true for food products containing higher levels of sugar. As sugar caramelizes upon heating, adherence to paperboard is particularly problematic. In addition, paper containers can be susceptible to igniting when cooking, thus damaging the container, potentially damaging the food in the container, and also potentially damaging the oven wherein the food is being cooked. In view of the current problems with ovenable paper containers, there is a need for a paper container that can be used to cook food in an oven that inhibits or prevents the food from sticking to the surface of the paper container during and after the cooking process, and which can be handled by a consumer shortly after being removed form an oven without concern of causing burns to the consumer when handling the paper container.